# kafrust-protocol
[](https://crates.io/crates/kafrust-protocol)
[](https://docs.rs/kafrust-protocol)
[](https://github.com/TaeeunKil/kafrust/actions/workflows/ci.yml)
Kafka wire protocol primitives for kafrust.
`kafrust-protocol` is the runtime-free protocol crate used by the high-level
[`kafrust`](https://docs.rs/kafrust) client. It owns Kafka request and response
encoding, response decoding, request/response headers, frame handling, and
focused wire-format tests.
This crate is not a Kafka client by itself. Applications should normally depend
on `kafrust`; this crate is public so protocol behavior can be inspected,
tested, and reused where low-level Kafka messages are needed.
## Design Goals
- Keep Kafka API/version details explicit in type names.
- Keep wire-format code small and easy to audit.
- Avoid async runtime assumptions.
- Avoid `unsafe`.
- Add Kafka protocol surface only when encoding, decoding, and client behavior
need it.
## Implemented Areas
The `0.2.x` protocol surface includes support used by the current high-level
client paths:
- primitive Kafka wire types
- nullable and compact strings/bytes/arrays
- tagged fields
- request and response headers
- frame encoding and decoding
- `ApiVersions v0`
- `Metadata v1`
- `Metadata v12` with topic UUIDs (KIP-848 assignment support)
- `CreateTopics v2`
- `DeleteTopics v3`
- `DescribeConfigs v1`
- `DescribeGroups v1`
- `ListGroups v1`
- `DeleteGroups v1`
- `IncrementalAlterConfigs v0`
- `FindCoordinator v1`
- `Produce v2` MessageSet and `Produce v3` RecordBatch paths
- `Fetch v2`, `Fetch v4`, and non-flexible `Fetch v11` request/response
decoding for MessageSet and RecordBatch records, including rack IDs and
preferred read replicas in v11
- `JoinGroup v2` and `JoinGroup v5`
- `SyncGroup v2` and `SyncGroup v3`
- `Heartbeat v2` and `Heartbeat v3`
- `ConsumerGroupHeartbeat v0` (KIP-848 flexible protocol foundation)
- `LeaveGroup v3`
- `OffsetFetch v2`
- `OffsetCommit v2` and `OffsetCommit v7`
- `SaslHandshake v1`
- `SaslAuthenticate v0`
- `InitProducerId v0`, `AddPartitionsToTxn v0`, `AddOffsetsToTxn v0`,
`TxnOffsetCommit v0`, and `EndTxn v0`
- classic consumer protocol subscription and assignment payloads
## Encoding Example
```rust
use kafrust_protocol::api::api_versions::ApiVersionsRequestV0;
let request = ApiVersionsRequestV0 {
correlation_id: 42,
client_id: Some("kafrust".to_owned()),
};
let bytes = request.encode()?;
assert!(!bytes.is_empty());
# Ok::<(), kafrust_protocol::Error>(())
```
## Decoding Example
```rust
use kafrust_protocol::api::api_versions::ApiVersionsResponseV0;
use kafrust_protocol::codec::Decoder;
let response_body = [
0, 0, // error_code
0, 0, 0, 1, // api_keys length
0, 18, // ApiVersions api key
0, 0, // min version
0, 4, // max version
];
let mut decoder = Decoder::new(&response_body);
let response = ApiVersionsResponseV0::decode_body(&mut decoder)?;
assert_eq!(response.error_code, 0);
assert_eq!(response.api_keys.len(), 1);
# Ok::<(), kafrust_protocol::Error>(())
```
## Compatibility
Protocol types can exist before a high-level client path is verified against a
real broker. kafrust compatibility claims are made from the high-level client
crate and repository docs, not from the presence of protocol structs alone.
The current `0.2.x` client compatibility claim is Apache Kafka `3.7.2`,
`3.8.1`, `3.9.1`, and `4.3.1` single-node KRaft over `PLAINTEXT`, with the
secured and three-broker client profiles verified against Kafka `3.7.2`.
## Current Limits
- This crate does not implement a broker.
- This crate does not perform network I/O.
- Protocol coverage is intentionally incomplete.
- SASL protocol structs do not perform authentication by themselves.
- This crate provides wire-format primitives, not the high-level routing,
retry, coordinator, or lifecycle behavior documented by `kafrust`.
- Compression codecs, transaction and idempotent-producer protocol paths, and
implemented admin API schemas still require high-level client verification
before they support a new compatibility claim.
- Public APIs are pre-`1.0` and can change between minor versions.
## Project Docs
- Repository: <https://github.com/TaeeunKil/kafrust>
- kafrust client crate: <https://docs.rs/kafrust>
- Roadmap: <https://github.com/TaeeunKil/kafrust/blob/main/docs/roadmap.md>
- Compatibility: <https://github.com/TaeeunKil/kafrust/blob/main/docs/compatibility.md>